DIXFIELD – A SAD 21 informational meeting about the pending merger between the district and Peru is to be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 10, in the Student Community Center of Dirigo High School.
Faced with steadily declining enrollments, SAD 21’s towns of Canton, Carthage and Dixfield are losing more and more state funding each year, said SAD 21 Superintendent Thomas Ward.
“That translates into either increasing the mills for education to maintain the programs and teacher/pupil ratios that we are accustomed to, or eliminating these programs and reducing staff,” he said.
That’s why Ward strongly supports the merger, which he said, would bring SAD 21’s student population to more than 1,000 students – the magic number that Gov. John Baldacci’s Task Force recommends for minimal school district size.
“That would also qualify us for the proposed incentives offered by the governor, which would include a 7.5 percent increase in state aid each of the first five years of consolidation,” he added.
Potentially, that means the district would receive an additional $300,000 from the state annually.
If the merger is OK’d on Wednesday, April 7, by a majority of SAD 21 voters, the aging Canton Elementary School could be replaced.
“The commissioner of education stated that if the merger goes through, the state will place $10 million in funding on the ‘Protected List’ for a new elementary school funded by the state,” he said.
Peru voters overwhelmingly approved the merger last month. As a result of the contract they OK’d, the new school is to be built on the Peru-Canton side of the Androscoggin River.
Ward said it would provide the district with an opportunity to offer a half day pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten for all students. It would also allow the new SAD 21 board to reconfigure the rest of the district’s schools, providing more much needed space for students and staff.
“These are just a few of the positives that this merger can bring to our communities and help preserve the uniqueness of SAD 21,” Ward added.
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